eMusic Review 0
Indelibly entwined with second-wave folk artists Loudon Wainwright, James Taylor and especially John Prine, Chicago-born-and-raised Steve Goodman took the folk sound and movement out of Greenwich Village and brought it to Middle America, where it lived throughout the '70s via the “laid back, mellow, singer-songwriter era.” Where Prine may have been more emotional, Taylor glibber and Wainwright ever the sad clown, Goodman combines the best of each, a veritable Carl Sandburg of American concerns, from riding the rails (the massive hit "The City of New Orleans") to watching the Cubs (“Go Cubs Go”). The second half of this huge anthology showcases Goodman's enormously compelling performing style and features his great country hit, “You Never Even Call Me by My Name.” But by far the emotional peak is his tribute to his father, “My Old Man,” who died too young, just like his son Steve, who passed away at the age of 36.
